Mothers' Union is the largest international Christian organisation with over 4 million members in 83 countries across the world.
Within this worldwide organisation we are part of the Anglican Province of Canterbury and based in the South West of England above Bristol, bordered by Wales in the West and the Cotswold Hills to the East.
Led by our Diocesan President, Doreen McLellan for the triennial 2025-2027 we have 26 branches across 8 deaneries and about 600 members working towards the Mothers' Union vision to strengthen and preserve family life and marriage, by our Christian faith through practical action.
This practical action can be seen through the giving of self, in prayer, in voluntary work, and in helping those less fortunate than ourselves in whatever ways we can.
Following the links, please take the time to discover how we respond to our Mothers' Union vision of a world where God's love is shown through loving, respectful, and flourishing relationships.
Are you a Facebook user? If so, please join the Mothers' Union Diocese of Gloucester facebook page.(Search in Facebook groups for MOTHERS' UNION GLOUCESTER DIOCESE)
Every day, the prayers from our Prayer Diary are published, together with the Wave of Prayer. Also any items of interest to Mothers' Union members which appear on the Church of England social media sites.
The national Mothers' Union website is a source of information about the worldwide organisation, national projects, monthly prayers and resources for members.
http://www.mothersunion.orgMidday Prayers are live on their Facebook page at 12:00 noon daily.
https://www.facebook.com/MothersUnion
Doreen was re-commissioned as our Diocesan President at a service in Gloucester cathedral on June 20th, alongside the Trustees.
Dear Fellow Members
It was lovely to see so many members at the MU Council meeting in October and I hope you all enjoyed the meeting and hearing our zonal trustee, Julia Jamieson, speak. It is always good to hear about the work of Mothers' Union beyond our diocese and be able to see how what we do fits in to the bigger picture. Our branches are very important but, as someone said to me recently, we do sometimes forget that we are part of a much wider organisation and everything we do is like ripples spreading across water. As Kathleen, our Worldwide President, has said the things we do take us around the corner and around the world.
Next year will mark the 150th anniversary of the founding of Mothers' Union by Mary Sumner and, as you know, there will be events to mark this at local, national and international level. We hope that branches will be able to hold events to which they can invite people from their community to show them that MU is still working to help families and that our work is still needed and appreciated.
Watching the news we can sometimes feel that there is little we can do but as Kathleen Snow, our Worldwide President, has said, we are 'stronger together' and our actions can, and do, make a difference. Since the last letter I have attended events as varied as coffee mornings, branch meetings, our Mary Sumner Day picnic and a gathering of Diocesan Presidents from Britain and Ireland held in Liverpool but,at all of these, there has been discussion of what Mothers' Union is doing and what else we can do to help others. At the gathering of Diocesan Presidents we were told that Mothers' Union projects had made a difference in the lives of 2.5 million people over the past year, which is a truly remarkable achievement - it shows that our work and campaigning is as relevant and needed now as it was when Mary Sumner started Mothers' Union back in 1876.
By the time you receive the issue of Roundabout we will be in the time of Advent and the warm summer and beautiful autumn colours will be memories but it is good to have the rhythm of the seasons as we go through the year, both the four seasons of the natural world and the seasons of the church calendar. I expect that many of you will have lots of lists as you plan for Christmas, while others just take things as they come but I hope that you will all find something in the Christmas season that lifts your hearts.
With love, prayers and good wishes for Christmas and the New Year for you all.
Doreen